Mass Effect: Honest Hearts
by whatisname
Summary: Thirty years after ME 3, a freighter captain tries to make a living, dispite some tricky crew mates, a murder and a piece of suspicious cargo. Follow the crew of the Libertatisque as they journey across the galaxy, living an honest life... mostly.


This was an idea that popped into my head at some point, so I hope this is to your liking, and certain references may be changed when I play Mass Effect 3. Enjoy! Also, I apologise for any spelling mistakes. Spell checker is being an ass at the moment.

/=========\

A light shone in the darkness. Blinking on and off. Never-ending.

The light continued to blink as the derelict freighter slowly drifted through space, one of the many casualties during the Reaper attack, so many years ago.

A silent grave, undisturbed and ignored by everything.

Until now.

A hammer smashed into the blinking light, snuffing it out of existence. The owner of the hammer was a Turian wearing an EVA suit. He placed the hammer back into the tool box he carried with him and floated towards two more figures.

"Blinker's down. Last one active." The Turian reported to a Human wearing an EVA, tapping the hull with the butt of his pistol while the third person- another Turian –used a listening apparatus, moving the sensory end close to the impact the pistol made.

"Good. Don't want any bigwig cruisers on our hinds." The Human replied, impacting the hull with his pistol once more.

"Aha! A hollow spot right there." The other Turian said as she felt around it with her gloved hand.

"Hmm, standard magnetic lock with a pressurized seal. Nothing fancy, an EM pulse should shake it loose." The male Turian said as he looked at the bulkhead.

"Got the tools for the job?" the Human asked, his voice had a trace of sarcasm as he spoke.

"No duh. Should have it open in a jiffy." The male Turian said as he pulled a small grenade-shaped object and placed it on the centre of the rectangular piece of bulkhead. He pressed a button on the device, and a red light came on.

The red light turned to green as the piece of hull was blown off by escaping air. The female Turian grabbed the bulkhead piece and attached a cable from her suit's belt onto the bulkhead.

"Only three crates?" The male Turian exclaimed as he and the Human stuck their heads in.

"They look intact. Get them back home ASAP. This far out in the Terminus is full of raiders and scavengers." The Human said as they grabbed the crates and moved them out of the small space. They clipped cables from their belts to the crates to stop them from drifting away, before floating back to their ship.

"Like us?" The female Turian asked as they came nearer to their home.

"We're not raiders, and every ship we scavenge we report the serial code to the bigwigs." The Human replied as they arrived at their ship's airlock. "Besides, we try to do the right thing… occasionally."

"I agree to that statement." The male Turian said as they unlocked the airlock door. A bright light started flashing from behind them, on the derelict ship.

"I thought you said that all the blinkers were dead?" The Human asked the male Turian.

"They were." He replied as the trio turned around to see the cause. Their breaths quickened as the creature before them resembled one of the gruesome abominations that the Reapers had used during their brief but violent invasion of the galaxy.

"Aw shit." The Human muttered as the creature opened its mouth to roar. Fortunately, they were in space, and in space, nobody can hear you gun down the crime against nature.

"Damn. Thirty years on and they're still hanging around." The male Turian said as the limp monstrosity of organic and cybernetic flesh drifted out into the deep blackness of space.

"Get inside now. Last thing we need is a Reaper that got lost on its way to the blitz attack on Earth to show up." The Human said as the trio hastily went inside. They entered the chamber and unclipped their horde as the outer door closed and the room was re-pressurized.

The Human took off his helmet and hit a button on the wall of the airlock chamber. "Skipper, get us out of here. Head straight to the relay and get us to Illium as fast as universally possible."

"_Sure thing boss._" Skipper replied through the comm as the inner door opened. The Human liked his ship, mainly because it was a type of custom made freighter which had modules slammed together.

The front of the ship is the bridge, while a corridor runs the length to engineering at the rear with the engines. On either side of the bridge and back a little behind it are the weapons. On the port side is a pulse cannon, a common weapon in the 23rd Century. On the starboard side is a missile tube, for solid ammo attacks. The crew compartments are either side. Port has the passenger rooms, access to the lower level and dining room while starboard has crew rooms, medical bay and a relaxation area.

The lower area consists of a cargo bay with bay doors at the front. Between the lower engineering level and cargo bay is the airlocks and access to the upper level.

/=========\

The ship, called Libertatisque, jumped into FTL as the ship made its way to one of the mass relays in the cluster.

The Human, called Declan, strode onto the bridge and walked up to Skipper.

"Are we clear?" he asked to the Quarian pilot.

"We are clear and silent. What happened over there?" Skipper asked as he turned his helmeted head to look at his captain.

"Reaper husk left over from their invasion. Must've been the cause of the derelict becoming derelict." Declan replied. They stared out at the streaks of light that flew by as the Libertatisque continued its journey.

"_Sir, we've scanned the cargo. No signs of radiation or explosives._" The female Turian said over the intercom.

"Understood, I'm heading down." Declan replied as he left the bridge. He walked down to a flight of stairs and walked down them to the lower level. He turned into the cargo bay and walked over to the two Turians standing next to the crates.

"Achilles, Sera. Are you sure its safe?" Declan asked as the three stared at the crates. "Cos I don't want to be the cause of the next Reaper invasion."

"Relax sir. Nothing dangerous has been detected so far." Sera explained. Declan gazed at the female Turian before nodding to her husband.

"Crack it open." Achilles bent down to open one of the crates. The lid came off without any problems to reveal a bunch of spare parts.

"Nice!" Achilles said in awe as the shiny parts glistened.

"Don't get too excited, these parts are over thirty years old. Won't do much good on any bigwig ships." Declan said as he pried the lid off another crate. Inside were what looked like copper bars.

"I know that. But this ship can take the parts. Please can I have them?" Achilles said as he stared at the brand new yet out-of-date parts.

"Only if it's going to save us money. If there's any that isn't compatible, we can sell it to the scrap yards on Omega."

"This is weird. These copper bars are too light to be copper." Sera said as she examined one of the copper bars.

"They're food. I recognise them from my earlier job on a transport ship. Standard issue food nutria-bars. Wonder if they're fresh…" Achilles said as he picked up a bar and checked the wrapping.

"Why is there a star on some but not on others?" Declan asked as he picked up one without a star while Sera picked up a bar with a star.

"Ones with stars are for Turians, the ones without are for the other species." Achilles explained.

"Alright, Sera get the food up to the kitchen and check if they're fresh. Achilles, see if you can try to modify these parts to co-operate with the rest of the ship." Sera nodded and took the crate of food upstairs.

"What's in that box sir?" Achilles asked as he pointed at the third unopened box.

"Our payload." Declan replied as he dragged the crate across the floor, lifted up one of the metal grates lining the floor and lowered the crate into the small hideaway.

/=========\

After two hours, the Libertatisque came into atmospheric entry over Illium. The ship sped down towards the Nos Astra spaceport and landing at their docking patform. The cargo bay doors were lowered as Sera and Declan left the ship. The remaining two crew members did their various jobs. Achilles was replacing some parts in the engine room while Skipper sat on a chair in the cargo bay entrance and started to read a book.

Declan and Sera navigated their way to a passenger lounge to find passengers before heading over to the employment office to find any new crew members.

/=========\

An Asari carrying a duffel bag walked up to the dozing Quarian. She placed her duffel bag down before looking around.

"Can I help you?" Achilles asked as he appeared from the doorway leading to the lower corridor.

"Oh, uh... I booked passage to Omega with your captain... if that's okay?" the Asari said timidly. Achilles came slightly closer but was still far away, in case she pulled a gun out.

"Well, if the boss said yes then its okay. Come with me and I'll show you the areas you need to know."

"Thank you." The Asari replied as she walked through the cargo bay towards the staircase.

Skipper continued to snooze for half an hour until he was woken up by being tapped on the shoulder. Looking up, the culprit was a Krogan battlemaster with another Krogan behind him.

"Is this the Libertatisque?" The massive Krogan asked, his glare seeming to melt the EVA suit Skipper was wearing.

"It sure is! What can I do for you?" he asked bravely, though intimidated by the size of the Krogan.

"I am here to join your crew." The Krogan battlemaster said.

"Did you speak with the captain?" Skipper asked. The Battlemaster growled, sending shivers down Skipper's spine and waking an impulse to run and hide.

"Uh, welcome aboard..." he said as the two Krogans pushed past him.

/=========\

Declan and Sera returned to the ship and summoned everyone to the cargo bay. The group consisted of the original crew, with the two Krogan Grunt and Hask, a Salarian doctor called Salek, an Asari medic called Asta, a group of Bartarians working for the Protect & shoot gun-for-hire, and a mechanic called Jeremy Baxter.

"Well, we have some new faces on board today. May I welcome first of all, our new crew members Battlemaster Grunt, his apprentice Hask, Dr Salek and Mr Baxter. May I also welcome our passengers heading to Omega and offer them our appreciation for choosing us to get them there safely." Declan finished his speech before dismissing the passengers. "Well, now that's out of the way. Our krogan friends are going to be crew members fo a short while before we take them to Tuchanka, while Dr Salek will be our new medical doctor. You may al go and get some rest." The majority of the crew left, leaving Declan alone with Grunt and Hask.

Grunt just grunted as heturned and walked out, his student following.

/=========\

The group of Bartarians were eating the bars of nutria-bar. They were talking in whispers, sharing glances at the two Krogans sitting at the other end.

In the medical bay, Dr Salek was checking out his new workplace, arranging the stacks of needles, medicine and surgery tools in a neat order while talking with Asta.

In the upper engineering level, Achilles and Jeremy were trading tips regarding engine specifics.

On the bridge, Declan and Skipper were checking over the local navigation charts as well as plotting a course to their next destination. The Libertatisque continued to move slowly until it came within sight of a mass relay.

"So, straight to Omega?" Skipper asked as the mass relay dominated the window.

"Looks like it. Only place we need to go now is Omega." declan replied as the mass relay slowly grew bigger the closer they went.

"You know, Aria shot you three times when we're last there. I don't want to lose you before pay day." Skipper said as he pressed various buttons to begin their approach to the relay.

"Sure she shot me, but the reason was only because she thought I had cheated her in a round of cards."

"Still, wear the armour this time." The Libertatisque started to get drawn in by the relay. A blue tendrill of energy shot out from the mass effect field of the relay and hit the Libertatisque, swinging it alongside the relay. All of a sudden, as the small ship passed the mass effect field, it shot forwards in a blinding light across the length of the relay, appearing a split second later halfway across the galaxy.`

"We have entered the system safely. Beginning approach to Omega." Skipper reported as the asteroid belt and Omega 4 relay came into view.

The Libertatisque steered well away from the dorment relay, and proceeded to the asteroid belt. Omega, a massive space station carved into and extending from a large asteroid, was an asteroid mining complex foe element zero, but became a prosperous Terminus-bred station ruled by an Asari called Aria T'loak.

/=========\

The clamps sealed, holding the Libertatisque in place as the docking arm had finished connecting to the hull of the ship. Declan and Sera stood at their side of the airlock, when the door opened to reveal Aria and no less than a dozen guards behind her.

"Aria, you cheating pirate." Declan said calmly as he and the de facto ruler of Omega stared at each other.

"Declan, you slippery toad. Why can't you stay dead?" she retorted.

"Why can't you stop giving me sticky jobs when I'm trying to earn an honest living?" he retorted. Aria laughed at this.

"You, honest? HA! Mating with a Reaper sounds more plausable than you being honest."

"Funny. Now, where's our pay?"

"Do you have the payload?" Aria asked as she eyed the crate behind the Human and Turian.

"Right here." Declan aid as he kicked a crate out over to Aria's feet. She cautiously knelt to open the crate, to reveal nothing but...

"Sand? Well, thirty years is a long time." Declan pondered as Aria rose up to her full height. She pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Declan's head.

"Give it to me. Now." she demanded as the guards and Sera pulled out their respective weapons.

"I swear, we never opened it." Declan said calmly as the tension slowly started to rise and the possibility of a firefight seemed likley.

Until Aria holstered her pistol and began to walk away, gesturing for Declan to follow. "No matter. I need you for another job." She said as she began to lead Declan away.

"Sir?" Sera asked from the ship decon chamber.

"See that the passengers pay and leave." Was the response the Turian got.

/=========\

"And that was it?" Achilles asked his wife as the two of them waited for the ship's passengers to disembark and pay.

"That was it. Acted as if they were old friends." Sera replied, as the group of Bartarians left, paying them via their omni tools.

"Wow... you don't think that the boss and Aria were...?" Achilles suggested as he thought of the possibility.

"Definitly not. Remeber when she shot him?" Sera said as she gazed up into her husband's eyes.

Meanwhile, Salek and Asta walked together towards the docking port.

"My dear, I wish that you could've joined a better clinic. Omega is a little... rough for someone who's grown up on a civilised planet." Salek said as they strode together down the corridor.

"I know, but I need the work. If only you could join me, our time on this vessel was too brief." She replied.

"I agree. Perhaps we shall see each other again?" the Salarian asked.

"Maybe." Asta replied as she left, paying via omni tool.

Salek watched as Asta walked down the docking arm to Omega.

Sighing, he left for the medical bay.

/=========\

Adria and Declan stared at a large box, roughly the size of a coffin.

"Why would I be interested in this?" Declan asked.

"This box, or rather its contents, are from a top secret lab working on experimental tech. All I know is that in this box, is an Asari clone with different DNA patterns mixed in." Aria explained as she nudged the box with a foot.

"So, transporting a dead hybrid? This is the sort of thing that could get me killed." Declan said as he stared Aria in the eye.

"It won't. The destination is the Xeos Union. There, the hybrid will be taken good care of, in a safe enviroment. And it's still alive." Aria replied, returning the steely glare.

"Okay, I'll do it. But the pay better be good." Declan said as he knelt next to the box. "And is it me, or are you going soft?" he added, before Aria shot him in the leg with lightning speed.

"I see that your wearing armour beneath your clothes." Aria noted as Declan stumbled slightly from the shot, but was still standing.

"Can't be too careful. Now, can I go now?"

"Fine. I'll have my men put the cargo in your ship's hold."

"Thanks." Declan replied as he left the room.

/=========\

Five hours later, the cargo was safely secured within the cargo bay on the Libertatisque. The crew had been ordered not to touch it, as it was vitally important.

"So where's our first destination?" Skipper asked as the entire crew were gathered in the dining room.

"Tuchanka. We can resupply on ammo and drop off our friends." Declan replied. Salek was confused about what the captain had said.

"Omega can supply us with ammunition. Why go to Tuchanka when we can resupply here?" the Salarian doctor asked.

"Mainly because I don't trust the dealers here as far as I can throw a planet, which ain't far." Was the reply.

"Too high a risk of getting spent rounds, rubber bullets, illegal suppliers, that sort of reason." Sera explained.

"Any other questions?" Declan asked. The group all shook their heads. "Great. Prepare for departure immediatley. Dismissed." The crew slowly dispersed to their various positions around the ship. Skipper sat down into the pilot's chair and started to talk with the station's docking control.

The Libertatisque slowly reversed from the docking bay as the ramp and clamps were retracted back into the side of the station. The ship manoevured around to face the mass relay on the other side of the system before moving forwards at sub-light speed. Once free from the station, it jumped into FTL quickly to arrive within reach of the relay. As usual, a bolt of blue energy grabbed the ship, flinging it into space parellel to the massive arm that pointed into the blackness.


End file.
